And Thus, Hope Is Born
by alice-in-vunderland
Summary: Lily is pregnant... and WHAT! SIRIUS USED TO BE IN LOVE WITH LILY? Find out all the details by reading this oneshot!


**A/N:** Haha. I finally got around to finishing this lurvely oneshot. :D Very fun to write, although Lily is realllllllly strange. Haha. Yeah. Please read and review, and I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, Harry Potter and its characters do not belong to me. They belong to the lovely, talented, funny, witty, marvellous, fantastic, (etc. you get the point) JKR. But the plot itself belongs to me. ^o^

Bellatrix cackled as she sent one last curse straight at James Potter. Lily screamed in fear. Instinctively, she shouted, "_Protego_!" The curse was deflected off the shield charm and hit a brick wall, smashing it to pieces. Bellatrix laughed sinisterly one more time as she shrieked, "You haven't seen the last of me, Potter!" Then she, the final Death Eater left on the scene, disapparated with a pop, leaving Lily shaking. James quickly ran up to Lily. She fell into his arms, sobbing.

"You could have been killed, James," she whimpered.

"But I'm still alive, and I'll always be with you," he comforted her, stroking her hair.

Lily calmed a little, "Just think, if we'd been killed, our baby wouldn't have you to take care of it."

"That's right," murmured James, "maybe Mrs. Figg would take it… After all, she likes tabbies, right?"

Lily glared at James, "I'm not talking about the damn cat, you idiot!"

"What? Baby?" asked James slowly. Then his eyes lit up in realization. "OH MY GOD! YOU'RE PREGNANT!"

"Of course I am. Took you long enough," she accused, glaring.

"Wait a second," James said, dashing over to Sirius, who was casting _oblivate_ spells on the muggles who had witnessed the attack.

"Padfoot! You owe me 20 galleons!" James declared, triumphant.

"For what?" Sirius asked grumpily, waving his wand in front of the muggle.

"Guess."

Sirius thought about it for a moment. Then his eyes lit up in realization. "OH MY GOD! YOU GOT LILYFLOWER PREGNANT?"

James grinned proudly. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait a second, mister. You made this a bet?!"

Sirius smirked, "Yeah. Whoever got someone pregnant first."

"What the hell?!" Lily screamed in fury, "you made this a BET?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOUR INSENSITIVITY!" James tried to hold her still, but she battered his chest with her fists. "I HATE YOU, POTTER! GO AWAY. I'M MOVING OUT! I DON'T WANT MY CHILD TO HAVE SUCH A STUPID, DUMBASS FATHER!" She extricated herself from his arms, and marched off, tears streaming down her face.

"W—w—wait a second, Lils," James called out, "I'll be a good father, I promise."

Lily turned around, tears spilling over. "I'm so sorry, James," she bawled, "I can't believe I was so rude. Don't listen to me. I'm just hormonal. I'm sooooorrryyyyyy."

Sirius snickered at Lily melting away in James's arms. "Hope your next nine months are pleasant," he said with a wicked grin.

James scowled. Lily glared, poking her head up above James's arms, "It'll be just fine!"

Sirius continued to snort as he turned his attention back to the muggles. James continued to hold Lily with one arm as he used the other to repair the wall that Bellatrix's curse had destroyed. After they had finished restoring the area, they sat down on the ground in a circle.

"I should have known Lily was pregnant," commented Sirius, "first, the wild mood swings. Also, her boobs are bigger."

"WHAT?!" shouted Lily, indignant.

"WHAT?!" shouted James, angry, "DON'T YOU DARE LOOK AT LILY LIKE THAT! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE MY BEST MATE! SHE'S MINE! AND ONLY MINE!" He stood quickly, pulling his wand on Sirius. Sirius mirrored James and stood too.

"Hey, mate, just kidding," Sirius chuckled, "you get so worked up about Lily all the time. It's so funny."

James blushed violently.

Lily defended him, "That's because we're in love. It's something that you'll never ever experience, being the player you are."

"Hey! That's not true. Look at all the girls I dated!"

"I'm not talking about random hookups. I'm talking about LOVE! The intense feeling of passion for another human being."

Sirius scratched his head for a moment. "I think there would be one then…"

"Really?" asked James.

"Yeah. Lilyflower. But I never said anything about it, because I knew you liked her, Prongs."

"WHAT?! HOW COME YOU NEVER TOLD ME? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" James shouted.

"Yeah. I gave up on her fifth year." He sighed. "Lilyflower's been the only woman I've ever truly loved."

"I'M SO SORRY, PADFOOT! I DIDN'T KNOW! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

"Nah, it's okay. You guys were meant to be together."

"I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY!!!!!!"

Suddenly, Sirius began laughing. "HAHAHAHAHA I GOT YOU THERE, PRONGS! YOU'RE SO GULLIBLE!"

"I knew it," said Lily, "what a phony you are."

James started groaning from embarrassment. "I can't believe I believed you. Arghh."

"You know who did love Lily, though?"

"Huh?"

"Remus."

"WHAT!?!"

"AHAHAHA GOT YOU AGAIN. JUST KIDDING!"

"I'M NEVER BELIEVING YOU AGAIN!"

"Okay. Well, let me tell you, Lily's pregnant with your child."

"WHA? LILY? WAIT! Does that mean Lily's _not _pregnant, or that she's pregnant with someone else's child."

"She's not pregnant."

"LILYYYYY HOW COULD YOU! YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU!"

Lily sighed. "James. Sirius is trying to fool around with you. But you're so stupid that you can't figure it out. I'm leaving."

Before she could get up, Remus Lupin apparated with a pop.

"Moony! Guess what," Sirius exclaimed.

"Lily's pregnant."

"WHOOOAHHHH! HOW DID YOU KNOW?" asked James incredulously.

"Easy. It's written all over your face."

"Oh no! Who would do such a thing?" James turned to look suspiciously at Sirius, who held up his hands in mock innocence.

Remus sighed, "It's an _expression_. Anyways, I already suspected. I just wanted to see how long it took you. I always knew she'd have to tell you. You're so dense sometimes… really. Anyway, I'm sorry I was too late. The Death Eaters set up a shield so nobody could apparate in or out, and no one could enter by foot either. So I wasn't able to help. But it looks like you guys did a pretty good job on your own." He glanced around the scene, waving his wand to repair a broken wall or two.

"Reeeemusss," Lily called, "you are so observant and kind. I wish you were the father of my child sometimes—"

"HEY!" shouted James.

"—even though I do love James, although he is quite stupid most of the time. But anyway, would you consider being the godfather?"

"HEY!" shouted Sirius, "that's my position!"

"Yeah!" James protested, "don't I get to have any say in this?"

"No," Lily said flatly, turning to stare expressionlessly at James.

Sirius put on a pouty face, "Why can't I be godfather? I would be the best godfather ever!"

"I want someone responsible, and more than half-intelligent to be godfather."

"Yeah, I kno—hey… What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Whatever you want it to mean," Lily told him.

"You know," Remus interrupted, "Sirius can be godfather, seeing how he _really_ wants to be it."

"Please, Lily?" James begged.

"I'll think about it," was all she said.

"Yes! Padfoot, you get to be co-father. We'll both be fathers!"

"That sounds weird…" Lily said.  
"I agree, mate. And that means I won't have to pay 20 galleons, seeing how we both become fathers at the same time…"

"Nope. No deal. You're godfather, and you pay. Or you're not, and you pay."

"Fine," acquiesced Sirius reluctantly.

"Well, anyone knows that the job of the godfather is to change diapers," Lily sniffed airily.

"What? I want a refund!" demanded Sirius.

"Too late," grinned Remus.

"Make it 50 galleons, and you have a deal," bargained James.

"No way! That's not even worth it, you scum."

"Take it or leave it."

"I'll lea—"  
"Be serious, guys!" Lily shouted, trying to quell the discussion.

"I know I'm really great and all that, but we can't all be me," bragged Sirius.

Lily sighed. "Just take the job, Sirius."

"Ok, but I vote we all have a celebratory dinner at Prongs's!"

"No! I don't want to cook."

"Fine, we'll go somewhere."

hr

"Sirius! Don't drink so much firewhisky. You're already really drunk," Lily chided.

"No, shweetheart, I'm not drunk." He hiccupped. "In fact, I'm quite lushid…" He stood up on his chair in the high-class restaurant. "I proposche a toash! To Lily and Jamesh! And to their unborn child!" He said it loudly enough that everyone in the restaurant turned around to look at them.

Lily blushed as she heard gasps of surprise. She blushed even more as she heard whispers.

"So glad for them…"

"Finally…"

"…meant to be."

"…make a lovely family."

She, almost impossibly, became even more embarrassed when a wizard with short stature came up to her and shook her hand vigorously.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Potter! I'm so happy for you!"

"Why, er, thank you Dedalus."

"No need for thanks on this happy day!" he exclaimed before skipping away.

Lily turned around when she heard a thump.

"I told you Sirius was too drunk…"

hr

Lily held the baby in her arms. James stood beside her, a proud and happy father. "He's so handsome. He looks just like me!" he bragged.

"Don't tell him that. You don't want him to cry," said Sirius slyly, "tell him he looks like me."

"Ahem," Remus broke in, "he obviously looks like _me_."

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but I believe he looks like me," Lily said proudly, holding up her baby for the marauders to examine. "See those green eyes? Mine. See that cute little nose? Mine."

"And see that dark hair?" Sirius asked, "mine."

"No! It's mine!" shouted James.

"How dare you steal my trademark!" Sirius yelled, and thus, the two began a grappling match. Lily sighed in frustration. "Here, Remus, you hold him for a while. I want to crawl under the covers." Remus complied good-naturedly.

Eventually, the fistfight was over (nobody had won, but James sported a new bruise on the side of his jaw, while Sirius had a lovely purply green one on his eye). The marauders, excepting James, had left.

Lily sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Is it really right to have a child at this time? Voldemort is getting even stronger, and we may be killed any day now. What if he has no one to care for him?"

"Lily, love, what matters to this child is that he has two parents who love each other (I hope) and him. Harry will grow up in hard times, yes, but for that, he will be stronger. Even if the day comes that he will have no one to care for him, he'll still be an extremely lucky boy. Wherever he goes, people will always say, 'Look! It's Harry Potter, the son of Lily and James.' Don't worry, Lils," he grinned suddenly, "besides, no one can complain we don't make beautiful babies."

"James!" Lily blushed to the roots of her hair.

"It's my good looks… and yours."

Lily blushed even harder.

"Thanks," she finally managed.

"For what?"

"For everything, James. I love you so much, and I'm sure, like you said, that Harry will have a happy life, because of what we do."

James smiled at the new mother, just as the first rays of the sun peeked over the windowsill, announcing the advent of a new day. Nestled between loving parents, the baby named Harry Potter smiled and gurgled happily.


End file.
